Wednesday, April 7, 2010

EF was fortunate enough to be invited along to the premiere of Robert Pattinson’s latest drama Remember Me, which is released in cinemas today. We caught up with Robert, his co-star Emilie de Ravin and one of the film’s producers Nick Osborne as they discussed the making of one of this year’s finest films.

Robert Pattinson had been looking for a new direction between Twilight sequels and literally read hundreds of scripts before picking Remember Me. He liked the naturalistic dialogue of the story and how the story dealt with grief. He also noted that this character starts and ends the movie as pretty much the same guy- it was a young part devoid of the usual Hollywood transitions when everything ties up nicely at the end. He joked that he doesn’t really like anything so picking a next project was easy. He clearly isn’t driven by money either so when the opportunity for Remember Me came along, he knew it was the right project. Robert also feels like these types of movies aren’t around very much today and saw a gap in the market to do such a narrative.

When asked if he feels that Tyler and Edward Cullen are similar brooding characters, he thinks that Tyler isn’t very broken or damaged at all, at least not how he saw him. He never felt that Tyler was brooding and that’s probably why Pattinson’s performance is so convincing here – it’s a character with no sense of pretention even though Robert admitted to liking Tyler’s audacity. Robert feels that the success of Twilight and indeed Lost will give Remember Me some publicity that will hopefully attract a bigger audience to the drama. I feel that it’s because of his other successes that Pattinson can take on roles like this and in many respects get a movie made that may struggle without his pulling-power. Remember Me also goes a long way to showcase Robert Pattinson as a serious actor and one that will have career longevity past The Twilight Saga.

On his co-stars, Robert loved the sense of humour and sarcasm of Emilie de Ravin. He also said that he finds her very funny when she doesn’t mean to be funny! This got a wry look off Emilie! He also joked that she can hold her drink and when they went out after the audition she downed something like 24 beers and still was stone-cold sober! Robert was genuinely chuffed at the chance to work alongside former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan too. He never thought that they would be able to get him to play the part of Charles Hawkins and according to Robert, Pierce managed to change the dynamic of his character with his natural charisma. He also loved working alongside Ruby Jerins who plays Tyler’s sister Caroline. Their relationship is a strong reason to why the film works so well. Robert said that Ruby could improvise with him for hours and acting came very easy to her. He also said that he has always wanted a younger sibling.

Emilie de Ravin has been a familiar face to thousands of viewers on Lost and Roswell. Remember Me finds her starring opposite the hottest young actor in Hollywood today and marks her first major leading role. Emilie was genuinely surprised at the turn out for the London premiere which found hordes of fans waiting for days to catch a glimpse of the cast. She said that the films script didn’t actually feel like a script thanks to its honesty and organic feel. She was also surprised to learn that Robert acted as executive-producer on Remember Me too. On her co-stars, Emilie cites Chris Cooper as a very giving actor who was a joy to work alongside. Her New-York accent is brilliant in the film and she admitted that it was important to get right as it adds layers of the character of Ally. When asked about the end of Lost, Emilie said that she felt bittersweet about it all even though it has been an amazing ride to take. Nevertheless she is feeling positive about the future and the projects that will hopefully come her way. She doesn’t want to pigeon-hole herself as an actress and she is well aware that you can’t please every fan which highlights the importance of always doing something challenging.

Co-producer Nick Osborne told us that Remember Me is a project which has been in development for the better part of 4 years. He, like Robert Pattinson, wanted the project to handle in a certain way and consulted with its star frequently. An element of the script that appealed to him was the story of a young man who wasn’t clued-up from the get-go but someone that finds what he wants throughout the story. He also told us a funny story about the Robert and Chris Cooper fight scene. Robert joked that he is too scared to get into real fights as people would like to kill him just because of who he is! Nick Osborne said that as Robert was preparing for the scene he turned around and saw Chris Cooper doing press-ups and felt genuine fear for Robert! He didn’t envy him that day. Robert also said that when he was filming the scene he was required to actually punch the stunt-man. He was told that he has a very weak punch which he said was an ego-deflator!

The press conference drew on some light-hearted general questions towards the end too. Robert feels that his natural accent isn’t quite regarded as London anymore and that he had an idea of Tyler’s accent from when he initially read the script. This voice never changed for him and that’s what we hear in the movie. I for one think his American accent is flawless and a few actors could take notes on Pattinson’s performance in Remember Me. Robert stated that he doesn’t really have any heroes outside of his family, who are his inspiration as are his friends. He also said that he is lucky to have a circle of friends who have grown up with him. He also feels genuine surprise when people regard him as a hero.

Then the press conference ended with a funny but bizarre question – what was Robert and Emilie’s favourite biscuit?! Emilie mentioned an Australian brand that no-one seemed to have heard of whilst Robert said that he was in America once and tried Chicken and Biscuits. He thought “why would they want to eat chicken with biscuits?!” But of course, in the States, biscuits are more like muffins and after he tried it he thought it was really nice! He said that the experience changed his opinion on what can be defined as a biscuit but if he had to pick a traditional biscuit it would be a Hob-nob!

Remember Me opens in cinemas today and I urge you all to catch it – its Robert Pattinson’s finest work to date.